Ultra-fast ‘stepping stone’ gives a taste of fibre’s fruits

Telecom has begun selling broadband plans that use the latest, faster, copper broadband technology, VDSL.

The company said about two-thirds of homes and businesses could benefit from VDSL, which would provide, on average, about three times faster downloads and 10 times faster upload speeds than its standard broadband plans.

A VDSL residential plan with an 80-gigabyte traffic cap will cost $95 a month, $10 a month more than its equivalent standard plan, and there is a $99 installation fee.

Once customers signed up, a technician would visit their home to install a master splitter on their wiring and to set up a VDSL-capable modem.

Telecom described VDSL (Very-high-bitrate Digital Subscriber Line) as a ‘‘stepping stone’’ to ultrafast broadband (UFB).

Retail head Chris Quin said VDSL would give customers ‘‘a taste of the significant benefits that fibre will bring as the government-led UFB rollout continues’’. ‘‘Fewer than one in 10 Kiwis can get fibre today and its availability will not match that of current broadband infrastructure for three or four years yet . . .’’

‘‘While we are convinced that fibre will be the main driver of New Zealand’s future internet connectivity, fewer than one in 10 Kiwis can get fibre today and its availability will not match that of current broadband infrastructure for three or four years yet, by current estimates,’’ Quin said.

‘‘In contrast, about 60 per cent of New Zealanders currently live and work in areas where VDSL is a great solution for better, faster broadband right now.’’

Chorus announced in May that it would wholesale VDSL connections for the same price and on the same terms as standard broadband connections, paving the way for Telecom’s entry into the market.

At the time, it was wholesaling about 3000 VDSL connections through other retailers.

Rival internet providers Snap Internet and Voyager have been most active in selling VDSL-based broadband plans. Vodafone has yet to follow.

Wellington testing company TrueNet reported in October that VDSL could dramatically improve upload speeds in particular, offering broadband users five times the upload speed of standard technology ADSL and more than double the standard upload speed of Vodafone’s inhome cable networks in Wellington and Christchurch. The performance of VDSL diminishes the further customers are from the phone exchange or roadside cabinet from which it is being supplied.

Minutes after Telecom’s announcement, Chorus said it had finalised the areas in which it would lay UFB between July 2014 and June 2016.

Chorus would make UFB available to a further 250,000 homes, businesses, schools and other premises during the two-year period, general manager of infrastructure build, Ed Beattie, said.

‘‘This will bring the number of customers in Chorus areas who are able to connect to UFB to more than half a million,’’ he said.

‘‘We plan to have completed about 57 per cent of our UFB coverage target by June 2016.’’

People in the 24 cities and towns where Chorus is laying UFB can check when they are due to get UFB by visiting the company’s website and keying-in their address.

Snap Internet said last month that it would start selling a ‘‘medium-speed’’ UFB plan available in the 30 per cent of the country where UFB is being laid by companies other than Chorus, which is designed to give lower-cost UFB plans an edge over VDSL.